And Christ was Born

And Christ was born A babe In Bethlehem. Just Joseph’s son, they said, And Pharisees In ruthlessness pursued His ministry to blind and lame and outcast In the troubled streets. Christ’s greater claim Invoked their blinded hate, Resolved they were To see no more Than merely man On whom to vent their scorn and spitefulness To death. No more than man? Then useless He would die on Roman cross And men were lost And babe become No more than sentiment Exploited By the trendy economics Of a stony world. No more than man? Is not the infant Christ of history The ever-living God Come down to earth To give his life For us By death On Calvary?